Chorus seeking answers for missing voters' names grows

Voters diligently following the registration process but still finding their names missing from the electoral rolls is a very serious problem and can't be treated as just another administrative lapse, former IAS officer Avinash Dharmadhikari said on Friday.

| TNN | Apr 19, 2014, 02.42 AM IST

PUNE: Voters diligently following the registration process but still finding their names missing from the electoral rolls is a very serious problem and can't be treated as just another administrative lapse, former IAS officer Avinash Dharmadhikari said on Friday.

"What happened in Pune and other constituencies in the state on polling day has serious implications for our democracy and this calls for a significant amendment to the Registration of Electoral Rolls and Conduct of Election Rules," he told TOI.

Right to Information (RTI) activists Vijay Kumbhar and Vihar Durve, meanwhile, have sent complaints to the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and Pune's district collector, respectively, seeking corrective steps, including release of details related to the missing voters and action against officials responsible for deletion of names from the voters' list.

Former bureaucrat Arun Bhatia, who is contesting from Pune as a candidate of the People's Guardian Party, has also sent a complaint to the CEC, demanding that the Pune constituency polling be declared void and a re-poll be ordered on the grounds of non-registration of voters.

"There was very poor publicity regarding the voters' registration movement in Pune," he said, adding that the district returning officer had neglected his job. Bhatia is also contemplating filing a writ petition in the Bombay high court as an abundant precaution.

Dharmadhikari said, "If a voter's name is missing from the electoral rolls on polling day, he/she is left with no choice but to send a complaint to the Election Commission or the election observers. But the issue doesn't end here. In fact, the larger issue is of the voters who had diligently followed the registration process, but still found their names missing. This can't be treated as one more tragic administrative lapse."

"In countries like the US, there is a provision whereby the presiding officer can verify the identity and citizenship of a voter and let him/her exercise their right. I know that this may have a lot of difficulties for implementing in India. My point is that it's high time to start thinking about an India-specific solution to protect the citizens' right to vote," he said.

Kumbhar said, "As per sections 13 and 26 of the registration rules, citizens have to fill form numbers 7 and 8, for objections regarding inclusion, deletion and correction of entries in the electoral rolls. It is mandatory that the objector's name is in the same part of the electoral rolls as the entry about which the objection has been raised. Now, thousands of voters from Pune are claiming that there names have been deleted from the list without their knowledge. It is obvious that all the forms related to their entries are in possession of the Election Commission."

"As per RTI Act sections 4 (1) (c) and (d), it is mandatory for all public authorities to publish all relevant facts while formulating important policies or announcing the decisions which affect the public and to provide reasons for its administrative or quasi-judicial decisions to affected persons. The Election Commission has provided this facility on its website, but the portal doesn't work," he said.

Kumbhar added that it was now the duty of the EC to communicate to all the electors whose names have been deleted and provide the reasons for its action.

RELATED

From around the web

More from The Times of India

Recommended By Colombia

From Around the Web

More From The Times of India

Recommended By Colombia

Comments

Characters Remaining: 3000

OR PROCEED WITHOUT REGISTRATION

Share on Twitter

SIGN IN WITH

FacebookGoogleEmail

Refrain from posting comments that are obscene, defamatory or inflammatory, and do not indulge in personal attacks, name calling or inciting hatred against any community. Help us delete comments that do not follow these guidelines by marking them offensive. Let's work together to keep the conversation civil.

Islamic State on Thursday officially claimed responsibility for a gun and bomb assault in the centre of Jakarta earlier in the day that killed seven people, five of whom were attackers.

Bringing back horrific memories of the Dadri lynching incident, a group of 'cow protection' vigilantes beat up a Muslim couple on a train in Madhya Pradesh on the suspicion that they were carrying beef.